S2E34: Hong Kong’s wistful longing for its cityscape to remain unchanged

Jul 3, 2025

24:19

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From the use of bamboo scaffolding for construction projects to a six-decade-old public housing estate, changes are afoot.

Synopsis: Every first Friday of the month, The Straits Times catches up with its foreign correspondents about life and trends in the countries they're based in.

Hong Kong’s bamboo scaffolding is immortalised in many a Jackie Chan flick, with heroes and baddies fighting it out while teetering on poles. But the city has been gripped in what Hong Kong correspondent Magdalene Fung says is an almost “visceral fear” over a recent government edict to reduce the use of bamboo in construction projects due to safety concerns.

ST foreign editor Li Xueying catches up with her over a similar debate arising over the would-be demolition of Choi Hung, Hong Kong’s first large-scale public housing project completed in the 1960s.

Having undergone the social turmoil and political changes of recent years since the 2019 protests, Hong Kongers are seeking comfort in the things that can remain the same - and quietly protesting the changes coming their way.

Highlights (click/tap above):

0:53 Changes in government regulations over bamboo scaffolding

2:25 Safety concerns

9:24 A fear of change

11:42 Why Hong Kong’s oldest public housing estate has to go

17:02 Has cultural nostalgia been weaponised?

Read Magdalene Fung’s article here: https://str.sg/dbo9

Read Li Xueying’s articles: https://str.sg/iqmR

Follow Li Xueying on LinkedIn: https://str.sg/ip4x

Host: Li Xueying (xueying@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis